During a recent Eureka City Council meeting, leaders from the Humboldt Bay business community presented on the economic struggles faced by local businesses and introduced a campaign to address these issues. Nancy Olson, president and CEO of the Greater Eureka Chamber of Commerce, shared findings from the recently completed Humboldt Economic Survey. The survey, developed with Eureka Main Street, the city’s Economic Vitality Committee, and Chambers of Commerce countywide, received responses from 214 businesses across 15 communities.
The survey highlighted that many businesses are small, with 88 respondents earning $300,000 or less annually and 43 earning under $50,000. Nearly 80% had fewer than 10 employees. Key challenges include rising costs, decreased sales, and safety concerns like vandalism and theft. Around 80% of respondents reported being impacted by safety issues. Additionally, 79% said their primary customers are local residents, emphasizing the importance of shopping locally.
The survey also revealed that nearly 40% of businesses are struggling or at risk of closing, with the number nearing 50% in the Eureka Main Street area. About one-quarter predicted their decline or closure within 12 to 15 months. Rosa Dixon, Executive Director of Humboldt Made, discussed the relaunch of the Choose Humboldt campaign, aimed at strengthening community loyalty and fostering economic resilience.
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‘Sounding the alarm’: Local business leaders present on economic struggles, campaign to help
At Tuesday’s Eureka City Council meeting, leaders from the Humboldt Bay business community gave a series of presentations on the state of businesses in the region, the challenges that many local small businesses are facing and the ways in which the city and the local business community could better address those challenges.
Nancy Olson, president and CEO of the Greater Eureka Chamber of Commerce, presented the results of a recently completed Humboldt Economic Survey.
“In March, Sue McIntyre, chair of the Eureka Main Street board, sent out an email sounding the alarm,” Eureka Economic Development Manager Swan Asbury said in an introductory remark. “She shared what many of us had already been hearing, that local businesses were struggling and needed more support.”
That survey, created in conjunction with Eureka Main Street, the city’s Economic Vitality Committee and Chambers of Commerce countywide — and compiled with the help of Alec Dompka and Grace Belt from the UC Cooperative Extension Humboldt/Del Norte Counties, garnered responses from 214 local businesses (169 in Eureka) representing 15 communities throughout the county — from “Orick to Garberville, Willow Creek to Manila.”
Responses from the survey give a sense of just how small many of the region’s businesses are, with 88 respondents reporting an annual income of $300,000 or less and 43 (roughly 18% of respondents) reporting an annual income of less than $50,000. Nearly 80% of respondents had fewer than 10 employees.
Local challenges
Respondents highlighted challenges such as the rising cost of goods and services, decreased sales, higher cost of rent and operations and difficulty attracting or retaining employees. Just under 60% of respondents said they expected increased business costs associated with federal-level policy changes like tariffs, and over 40% said that they expected fewer customers because of those policy changes.
The majority of respondents also cited safety concerns that might affect their ability to do business, with roughly 80% of respondents saying that they are somewhat or very significantly impacted by safety concerns — including concerns about “vandalism, theft (and) loitering.”
“Another point of interest is that 79% said that their primary customers are local residents, and this really speaks to the fact that they need all of us to shop local and to support our local businesses if we want them to thrive,” Olson said.
Olsen also highlighted some of the information gleaned from an April 2025 survey conducted by the Northern California Association of Nonprofits (NorCAN). That survey’s results, a report titled “Federal Shifts and Local Impacts: Understanding the Effects of National Policy Changes on Community-Based Nonprofits,” reported that two-thirds of the region’s nonprofits expect layoffs in the near future as a result of cuts to state and federal funding. Cuts at those levels are already affecting core services in “education, environmental programs, health and mental health services and community and civic engagement” that serve tens of thousands of Humboldt County residents annually.
Olson noted that while approximately 60% of businesses reported being either “thriving” or “stable,” nearly 40% of businesses reported “struggling” or being at risk of closing. And the number of struggling and at-risk businesses approaches 50% in the Eureka Main Street area.
Approximately one quarter of businesses surveyed also predicted their own decline or closure in the next 12 to 15 months.
Choose Humboldt
In a separate presentation, Humboldt Made Executive Director Rosa Dixon gave an update on Friday Night Markets — which Dixon called “a catalyst for economic and cultural growth (that) … revitalize local businesses, supports job creation and enriches our overall quality of life in our community.”
The season’s first Friday Night Market packed in 7,300 attendees, according to Dixon, an increase of 1,200 from the previous year’s inaugural event, and Dixon said that the event has made a number of changes intended to better include the brick-and-mortar stores in the area, thinning the number of food trucks, for example, so that the local restaurants who wish to remain open have greater access to foot traffic.
Dixon also announced relaunching the region’s Choose Humboldt campaign.
“Choose Humboldt isn’t just a slogan; it’s a movement,” Dixon said. “It’s about recognizing that our dollars are powerful and where we spend them shapes the kind of community we live in, and right now that matters more than ever to all of us.
“Our goal with the relaunch is clear: We want to strengthen … community loyalty to our local businesses, inspire pride of place and foster collaborations between city, chambers and economic partners — and most important, build a resilient economic community that reflects Humboldt’s values: sustainability, creativity and community.”
Robert Schaulis can be reached at 707-441-0585.